In the Valois tapestries (1576) which I saw last week, there are some kind of flaming spheres emitting smoke or something, presumably incendiary devices, that are being depicted in a tournament scene and a mock battle scene.
Here you can see one in front of the hooves of the white horse in the foreground: https://www.artandobject.com/sites/default/files/styles/gallery_item/public/tournament.jpg?itok=OYduh8-B
Context: https://www.artandobject.com/news/cleveland-museum-art-debuts-newly-restored-valois-tapestries
Some of the captions at the museum said they were "fireworks and golden orbs" but didn't elaborate further.
What are these and what are they for? Are they just decorative fireworks? Are they training devices to get horses and riders used to smoke and bangs? Are they real weapons of some kind? Are they dangerous? Or is it just the artist (who supposedly witnessed the event depicted) filling up some blank space?
They're most likely supposed to be firecrackers of some sort meant to make the mock battle seem more exciting. I don't think i could tell you exactly what sort of firework they're supposed to be, but gunpowder was definitely a major part of warfare by this time and you can find books from this period which include pages and pages of recipes for different military fireworks ranging from rockets and flamethrowers to grenades and firebombs. Here are some examples from 1588. Some firework recipes were intended more for military purposes and meant to shoot out deadly shrapnel or light things on fire, others however were more for show and would just produce very bright light and noises or explode in different colors for use during triumphs or celebrations.
